The Republic is saved! reparations for African descendants of slaves has passed the California Assembly

[Asclepias]

" A proposal to establish a task force to study and prepare recommendations for how to give reparations to African Americans passed the California Assembly on Thursday. "

Wake me when there is some real action about to happen.

You want cash or investment in the communities? What do reparations look like, to you?

Maine did it with Native Americans but we have a grand total of less than ten thousand Native Americans in two tribes, administered from three small reservations, and their heritage was already confirmed by the tribal censuses.

There should be cash no doubt but there are other things that would benefit even more like real estate grants, tax moratoriums, and educational grants. Real estate is a transferable asset which would help lessen the wealth gap. When the US gets serious about reparations there are a host of more qualified people they can speak with on what it should look like and why. As MLK once said....

"A society that has done something special against the Negro for hundreds of years must now do something special for the Negro."
-MLK

good to hear Maine has paid reparations to the NA's

They didn't do it out of the kindness of their hearts. The tribes took the State of Maine to federal court for never once legally having their treaties with the tribes ratified by Congress. Never. Once. The courts found for the tribes.

The state settled with $81.5 million to the tribes with the proviso that a large portion of it be used to buy land, which they did. The tribes have used it wisely and their fortunes are looking up. Every tribal member gets a check every year for a few thousand, from interest and profits from their businesses. One res is starting a marijuana grow. They own timbering, blueberry and cranberry lands around here, plus the fishing they've always done. They've updated a lot of their housing on the res and have their own universal healthcare system, their own schools (thru grade 8). Right now they are petitioning to expand their autonomy in the court system and to override federal and state fishing regulations. They claim they gave up some of that autonomy when they signed the Reparations Agreement. They tried proposing a casino, but it was turned down by referendum. If they get the expanded autonomy they want from the current petition, they wouldn't have to ask the state's permission to build one. The governor is reluctant, though.

My gram always said, it takes money to make money. Seems to be helping.

I believe that most whites in this country dont ever want Black people to have that same autonomy. One only needs to look at events like the Tulsa "Riots" to see and understand that a Black person doing as good or better is a threat to white supremacy everywhere.

Is that what you want? Autonomy? There are a lot of differences between the tribes and the African Americans. The slaves didn't come here as a "nation." And now they are a good sized portion of the American population, spread all over the country, many are doing very well and are as different from one another as any two American families are. There is no single spokesman for all black Americans, and probably no consensus on what that message should be. Being a little of an amateur geneaologist, I know how tough it is for most black people to trace their families back to proven slaves. (You're lucky your family stuck together and you know who your great gram was.) I think asking for "back pay" to the descendants of slaves is kinda simplistic, and probably you know that. What about the Somali's that live in Maine now? They get treated to racism, too, but they've only been here 20 years or so. It's just that logistically, reparations seem almost impossible in that sense.

I can see an enormous amount being funneled to African American organizations and institutions, and into community programs to enhance opportunity, break the cycle of poverty and violence, encourage better education, guarantee business loans. God knows the cash strapped cities haven't got the $ $ to do all that needs to be done.
And it shouldn't be one of the damned political parties that spearheads it, either. The power changes hands too often and it could be taken away. It needs to be federal legislation guaranteed for the long haul.

But autonomy? Why are white people all over this country breaking their necks right now to treat black people equally and agitate for fair play in this country if you folks just want to start your own separate "tribe?"

I haven't followed this reparations stuff very closely. Don't know much about the ideas that are being floated around. Maybe folks have worked a lot of this out. I'm just thinking out loud.

And I looked up the Tulsa "riots." That was some sad business.

Yes autonomy just like every other community in the US. Blacks are a nation even if they didnt come over as a nation in the past. Most Black people I know can trace their ancestry back to someone that was enslaved unless they arrived here after that time period. In that case they wouldnt get the back pay which I think is a large component of the term reparations. I dont see it as simplistic. I see it as the bedrock on which reparations should stand. Its payment for money owed. Africans that are new to the US wouldnt be part of that. Besides their family structure, religion, and language was never taken from them here in the US. They have that mental foundation and racial pride that a lot of Black people are missing due to centuries of racism and untreated self hate.

The only thing that can have an immediate effect on breaking the cycle is wealth. I saw a stat the other day regarding business loans. 75% of whites get their loans while the figure was like 1% for Blacks. That kind of disparity has to change. Whatever money that is coming into the communities are used just to stay afloat. I think politicians should be involved but there should be oversight by the community.

I guess I can only put it like this. I would fight for someone to have autonomy even it wasnt my community. I dont want white people trying to lead or manage or dictate what goes on in the Black community. We dont need that. We need the racism to stop so our people can heal.

I havent looked into reparations myself much because I believe its just a pipe dream or a pacifier. I dont foresee any real work being done on this. If they were for real it would already be done.

 

[Asclepias]

Newsom must sign asap!

African American reparation bill passes California Assembly

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A proposal to establish a task force to study and prepare recommendations for how to give reparations to African Americans passed the California Assembly on Thursday. The …

fox40.com

/——/ Correct me if I’m wrong, but California was not even a state when slavery was abolished. What are they reparating?

Slavery

/——/ Make Californians pay for something their ancestors had nothing to do with?

But their ancestors did have something to do with it. Did you read my link?

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Newsom must sign asap!

African American reparation bill passes California Assembly

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A proposal to establish a task force to study and prepare recommendations for how to give reparations to African Americans passed the California Assembly on Thursday. The …

fox40.com

Oh good. Some black people are now going to vote themselves free money and some guilty white liberals will try to give it to them! At least the jap-americans were repaid for actual injury done to them. Now when it doesn't pass, they can denounce all voting against it as racists!

I'm just wondering what will happen when they try to tax the illegals in order to pay blacks for not being their slaves...
View attachment 349884

Yeah...that ain't gonna go over well.
Mexicans and blacks hate each other.

 

[bripat9643]

" A proposal to establish a task force to study and prepare recommendations for how to give reparations to African Americans passed the California Assembly on Thursday. "

Wake me when there is some real action about to happen.

You obviously need to hurry up and get there, where you don't miss out on those reparations from a bunch of folks (and a state) that never had slaves!!!!

You obviously need to reexamine the myths you have been told and neglected to research.

The Lesser-Known History of Slavery in California

California Bound recounts a tumultuous history of mass migration, displacement, and litigation that led to the establishment of California’s earliest African American communities.

hyperallergic.com

"California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

Damn, boy...

You must have slipped up there...

California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

So you finally admitted that the DEMOCRATS (the party YOU SUPPORT) was PROSLAVERY!!!

Does this mean that you owe yourself reparations???

Who told you I slipped up or that I was a dem?

Damn you people always have your hand out for someone else's money. Take note, I used an apostrophe, see how that works?

You must be a retard if you think back pay is someone elses money.

What did you do for me that entitles you to get paid by me?

 

[Asclepias]

" A proposal to establish a task force to study and prepare recommendations for how to give reparations to African Americans passed the California Assembly on Thursday. "

Wake me when there is some real action about to happen.

You obviously need to hurry up and get there, where you don't miss out on those reparations from a bunch of folks (and a state) that never had slaves!!!!

You obviously need to reexamine the myths you have been told and neglected to research.

The Lesser-Known History of Slavery in California

California Bound recounts a tumultuous history of mass migration, displacement, and litigation that led to the establishment of California’s earliest African American communities.

hyperallergic.com

"California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

Damn, boy...

You must have slipped up there...

California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

So you finally admitted that the DEMOCRATS (the party YOU SUPPORT) was PROSLAVERY!!!

Does this mean that you owe yourself reparations???

Who told you I slipped up or that I was a dem?

Damn you people always have your hand out for someone else's money. Take note, I used an apostrophe, see how that works?

You must be a retard if you think back pay is someone elses money.

What did you do for me that entitles you to get paid by me?

You wouldnt be able to afford my professional skills so I have no clue what youre talking about.

 

[basquebromance]

BROTHERS AND SISTERS:

kids today dont know who came before them, they dont know what shoulders they're standing on

that's why we need revisit the teachings of black folks like Martin King, Fanny Lou Hamer, Jimmy Carter, Medgar Evers, Cornel West, Van Jones, Cesar Chavez, Audrey Lorde, Toni Morrison.

there's a wealth of black thought out there, and we should educate our kids, my friends

 

[Asclepias]

BROTHERS AND SISTERS:

kids today dont know who came before them, they dont know what shoulders they're standing on

that's why we need revisit the teachings of black folks like Martin King, Fanny Lou Hamer, Jimmy Carter, Medgar Evers, Cornel West, Van Jones, Cesar Chavez, Audrey Lorde, Toni Morrison.

there's a wealth of black thought out there, and we should educate our kids, my friends

You forgot Malcom X, Marcus Garvey, Martin R. Delany, and Nat Turner

 

[LeftofLeft]

Newsom must sign asap!

African American reparation bill passes California Assembly

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A proposal to establish a task force to study and prepare recommendations for how to give reparations to African Americans passed the California Assembly on Thursday. The …

fox40.com

Kamala Harris should be stepping up faster to write checks. Her family - like Obama’s - traded slaves.

 

[bripat9643]

" A proposal to establish a task force to study and prepare recommendations for how to give reparations to African Americans passed the California Assembly on Thursday. "

Wake me when there is some real action about to happen.

You obviously need to hurry up and get there, where you don't miss out on those reparations from a bunch of folks (and a state) that never had slaves!!!!

You obviously need to reexamine the myths you have been told and neglected to research.

The Lesser-Known History of Slavery in California

California Bound recounts a tumultuous history of mass migration, displacement, and litigation that led to the establishment of California’s earliest African American communities.

hyperallergic.com

"California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

Damn, boy...

You must have slipped up there...

California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

So you finally admitted that the DEMOCRATS (the party YOU SUPPORT) was PROSLAVERY!!!

Does this mean that you owe yourself reparations???

Who told you I slipped up or that I was a dem?

Damn you people always have your hand out for someone else's money. Take note, I used an apostrophe, see how that works?

You must be a retard if you think back pay is someone elses money.

What did you do for me that entitles you to get paid by me?

You wouldnt be able to afford my professional skills so I have no clue what youre talking about.

So now you're playing stupid? That's the kind of quality arguments I expect from a supporter of reparations.

 

[Asclepias]

" A proposal to establish a task force to study and prepare recommendations for how to give reparations to African Americans passed the California Assembly on Thursday. "

Wake me when there is some real action about to happen.

You obviously need to hurry up and get there, where you don't miss out on those reparations from a bunch of folks (and a state) that never had slaves!!!!

You obviously need to reexamine the myths you have been told and neglected to research.

The Lesser-Known History of Slavery in California

California Bound recounts a tumultuous history of mass migration, displacement, and litigation that led to the establishment of California’s earliest African American communities.

hyperallergic.com

"California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

Damn, boy...

You must have slipped up there...

California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

So you finally admitted that the DEMOCRATS (the party YOU SUPPORT) was PROSLAVERY!!!

Does this mean that you owe yourself reparations???

Who told you I slipped up or that I was a dem?

Damn you people always have your hand out for someone else's money. Take note, I used an apostrophe, see how that works?

You must be a retard if you think back pay is someone elses money.

What did you do for me that entitles you to get paid by me?

You wouldnt be able to afford my professional skills so I have no clue what youre talking about.

So now you're playing stupid? That's the kind of quality arguments I expect from a supporter of reparations.

No. I'm trying to avoid your stupidity. Why did you ask me that stupid ass question? You know good and well you cant afford to pay me anything.

 

[bripat9643]

" A proposal to establish a task force to study and prepare recommendations for how to give reparations to African Americans passed the California Assembly on Thursday. "

Wake me when there is some real action about to happen.

You obviously need to hurry up and get there, where you don't miss out on those reparations from a bunch of folks (and a state) that never had slaves!!!!

You obviously need to reexamine the myths you have been told and neglected to research.

The Lesser-Known History of Slavery in California

California Bound recounts a tumultuous history of mass migration, displacement, and litigation that led to the establishment of California’s earliest African American communities.

hyperallergic.com

"California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

Damn, boy...

You must have slipped up there...

California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

So you finally admitted that the DEMOCRATS (the party YOU SUPPORT) was PROSLAVERY!!!

Does this mean that you owe yourself reparations???

Who told you I slipped up or that I was a dem?

Damn you people always have your hand out for someone else's money. Take note, I used an apostrophe, see how that works?

You must be a retard if you think back pay is someone elses money.

What did you do for me that entitles you to get paid by me?

You wouldnt be able to afford my professional skills so I have no clue what youre talking about.

So now you're playing stupid? That's the kind of quality arguments I expect from a supporter of reparations.

No. I'm trying to avoid your stupidity. Why did you ask me that stupid ass question? You know good and well you cant afford to pay me anything.

Pretending you didn't get the point only makes you look stupid.

 

[Asclepias]

" A proposal to establish a task force to study and prepare recommendations for how to give reparations to African Americans passed the California Assembly on Thursday. "

Wake me when there is some real action about to happen.

You obviously need to hurry up and get there, where you don't miss out on those reparations from a bunch of folks (and a state) that never had slaves!!!!

You obviously need to reexamine the myths you have been told and neglected to research.

The Lesser-Known History of Slavery in California

California Bound recounts a tumultuous history of mass migration, displacement, and litigation that led to the establishment of California’s earliest African American communities.

hyperallergic.com

"California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

Damn, boy...

You must have slipped up there...

California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

So you finally admitted that the DEMOCRATS (the party YOU SUPPORT) was PROSLAVERY!!!

Does this mean that you owe yourself reparations???

Who told you I slipped up or that I was a dem?

Damn you people always have your hand out for someone else's money. Take note, I used an apostrophe, see how that works?

You must be a retard if you think back pay is someone elses money.

What did you do for me that entitles you to get paid by me?

You wouldnt be able to afford my professional skills so I have no clue what youre talking about.

So now you're playing stupid? That's the kind of quality arguments I expect from a supporter of reparations.

No. I'm trying to avoid your stupidity. Why did you ask me that stupid ass question? You know good and well you cant afford to pay me anything.

Pretending you didn't get the point only makes you look stupid.

You have no point. I cant help it that you are too ignorant to realize that.

 

[bripat9643]

" A proposal to establish a task force to study and prepare recommendations for how to give reparations to African Americans passed the California Assembly on Thursday. "

Wake me when there is some real action about to happen.

You obviously need to hurry up and get there, where you don't miss out on those reparations from a bunch of folks (and a state) that never had slaves!!!!

You obviously need to reexamine the myths you have been told and neglected to research.

The Lesser-Known History of Slavery in California

California Bound recounts a tumultuous history of mass migration, displacement, and litigation that led to the establishment of California’s earliest African American communities.

hyperallergic.com

"California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

Damn, boy...

You must have slipped up there...

California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

So you finally admitted that the DEMOCRATS (the party YOU SUPPORT) was PROSLAVERY!!!

Does this mean that you owe yourself reparations???

Who told you I slipped up or that I was a dem?

Damn you people always have your hand out for someone else's money. Take note, I used an apostrophe, see how that works?

You must be a retard if you think back pay is someone elses money.

What did you do for me that entitles you to get paid by me?

You wouldnt be able to afford my professional skills so I have no clue what youre talking about.

So now you're playing stupid? That's the kind of quality arguments I expect from a supporter of reparations.

No. I'm trying to avoid your stupidity. Why did you ask me that stupid ass question? You know good and well you cant afford to pay me anything.

Pretending you didn't get the point only makes you look stupid.

You have no point. I cant help it that you are too ignorant to realize that.

You aren't fooling anyone, moron.

 

[OnePercenter]

So will the Mormons get back,
Nauvoo Illinois,
Kirtland , Ohio and
Independence Missouri?

We Italians want NYC, Philly, Boston, and Chicago. Everyone else, GTFO!!!!!!!

 

[OnePercenter]

So will the Mormons get back,
Nauvoo Illinois,
Kirtland , Ohio and
Independence Missouri?

Yeah, didn't Missouri have an extermination order? All Mormons need reparations, even the ones in Asia that have never even come to America.

.

What about black morons, do they get twice the amount?

 

[Marion Morrison]

Would they stop destroying our cities, rioting, looting and calling us racist if we gave them a million bucks a piece? We shouldn't give it freely without a deal.

Bullshit. Reparations is for the centuries of back wages. You have no bargaining power. You just pay what the fuck you owe and call it even.

How about get fucked and fuck off! How ya feel about that?

I can have sex with a woman later. Right now we are talking about reparations.

About that..you get not a damn thing. Now go on about your business. Bitch

I already pointed out that whites hate honoring their debts so I have never believed that they would pay reparations. Bitch.

I always pay my debts, boy. Are you you saying I owe you? I have just the thing..

You dont have shit so no. The US owes me my ancestors back wages.

I'd like to pay you for them, everything you're owed.

All X grains of it, you fucking turd!

 

[Asclepias]

" A proposal to establish a task force to study and prepare recommendations for how to give reparations to African Americans passed the California Assembly on Thursday. "

Wake me when there is some real action about to happen.

You obviously need to hurry up and get there, where you don't miss out on those reparations from a bunch of folks (and a state) that never had slaves!!!!

You obviously need to reexamine the myths you have been told and neglected to research.

The Lesser-Known History of Slavery in California

California Bound recounts a tumultuous history of mass migration, displacement, and litigation that led to the establishment of California’s earliest African American communities.

hyperallergic.com

"California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

Damn, boy...

You must have slipped up there...

California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

So you finally admitted that the DEMOCRATS (the party YOU SUPPORT) was PROSLAVERY!!!

Does this mean that you owe yourself reparations???

Who told you I slipped up or that I was a dem?

Damn you people always have your hand out for someone else's money. Take note, I used an apostrophe, see how that works?

You must be a retard if you think back pay is someone elses money.

What did you do for me that entitles you to get paid by me?

You wouldnt be able to afford my professional skills so I have no clue what youre talking about.

So now you're playing stupid? That's the kind of quality arguments I expect from a supporter of reparations.

No. I'm trying to avoid your stupidity. Why did you ask me that stupid ass question? You know good and well you cant afford to pay me anything.

Pretending you didn't get the point only makes you look stupid.

You have no point. I cant help it that you are too ignorant to realize that.

You aren't fooling anyone, moron.

I promise I wasnt trying to fool you idiot. Youre already too confused as it is.

 

[OnePercenter]

" A proposal to establish a task force to study and prepare recommendations for how to give reparations to African Americans passed the California Assembly on Thursday. "

Wake me when there is some real action about to happen.

You obviously need to hurry up and get there, where you don't miss out on those reparations from a bunch of folks (and a state) that never had slaves!!!!

You obviously need to reexamine the myths you have been told and neglected to research.

The Lesser-Known History of Slavery in California

California Bound recounts a tumultuous history of mass migration, displacement, and litigation that led to the establishment of California’s earliest African American communities.

hyperallergic.com

"California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

Damn, boy...

You must have slipped up there...

California’s proslavery Democrats passed a fugitive slave law in 1852 that vitiated the state's constitutional prohibition against enslavement. It allowed whites to keep slaves they had already brought into California as long as they eventually transported them back to the South. The state thus treated escaped slaves as fugitives to be forcibly returned into bondage. "

So you finally admitted that the DEMOCRATS (the party YOU SUPPORT) was PROSLAVERY!!!

Does this mean that you owe yourself reparations???

Fucking grandfather clauses bite you in the ass every time.

 

[Asclepias]

Would they stop destroying our cities, rioting, looting and calling us racist if we gave them a million bucks a piece? We shouldn't give it freely without a deal.

Bullshit. Reparations is for the centuries of back wages. You have no bargaining power. You just pay what the fuck you owe and call it even.

How about get fucked and fuck off! How ya feel about that?

I can have sex with a woman later. Right now we are talking about reparations.

About that..you get not a damn thing. Now go on about your business. Bitch

I already pointed out that whites hate honoring their debts so I have never believed that they would pay reparations. Bitch.

I always pay my debts, boy. Are you you saying I owe you? I have just the thing..

You dont have shit so no. The US owes me my ancestors back wages.

I'd like to pay you fr them, everything you're owed.

All X grains of it, you fucking turd!

"I'd like to pay you fr them, everything you're owed."

You dont have enough money but thanks for the gesture.

 

[Indeependent]

If I open a bar now I can make a fortune.